To ask what you spend at the supermarket on average each week

[Joysmum]

I'm just wondering what everyone else's costs roughly are, for how many people and whether this includes lunches?

MIL jealous much it's the cheap food that causes obesity as it's hight in 'bad' fats and additives. The more expensive usually means purer. Sadly.

I would say about £100-120 a week. As well as food, this includes all toiletries, cleaning products, packed lunches, some clothes, cards and presents. We hardly ever eat out or get takeaways though.

Tbh, MIL, I'm glad I don't live in your world.

FYI I donate to the food bank once a week and volunteer at the church handing out food/clothing
I grew up in a famy where we didnt have much money, we aren't rich now by any stretch of the imagination but me buying value foods is ridiculous because I can afford not to.

About £100-120 as well. Family of 4, just dh and my lunches in the week.
Rarely have takeaways, do like to eat out a few times a month.

MyMil, I think mn is full of intelligent women who work hard to feed their family what they bloody well like, within their own budget. Budgets on Mn, like in life, vary hugely.

MIL obesity is actually a bigger problem amongst the poor, but never mind.

Unless you donate all the income you and your family don't need to physically survive (which it doesn't sound like, if you spend >£100 pw on food shopping) then you really aren't one to talk.

Sorry. You said you spend £70 per week. Principle still stands though - if others are doing it on £50, according to your principles, aren't you being greedy by spending that extra £20 rather than donating it to charity?

Prompted by this thread, I worked out our average weekly spend over the last month and it came out at £83 per week for 2 adults and a child (in London). That covers pretty much every scrap of food we eat, as my partner takes food into work with him for lunch (and/or dinner) every day, and I work from home whilst looking after toddler. It also includes all household stuff like cleaning products, bog roll, etc. I actually think this is pretty good considering the INSANE volume of fruit and vegetables we chomp our way through each week.

I have my own budget for eating out which in the last month has been over £100 but it is the party season!

I have to agree there's no need to be so judgmental, MIL. Some posters on here are spending more than five times a week what I do, and you know what? It's their choice and none of my concern!

I'm actually quite pleased to see a thread where people are being realistic about what they spend on food.

The other threads turn into an austerity competition where people try to out-stinge each other and that makes me feel like a bourgeois spendthrift. It also makes shopping even more depressing. As it is, I wander up and down the aisles doing mental maths whilst trying to keep my dignity.

And we have the evidence here - 86p per meal per family of four is £11.50 per day and £80 per week. No snacks, juice, milk, coffee, biscuits, cat food, dog food, cleaning stuff, loo roll, shampoo.

And a meal out does cost £40-50 even in the 'reasonable' london restaurants. Don't be fooled by the £7 all you can eat buffet - the drinks will cost £3 each and god forbid you need to use the loo.

I had brunch the other day in a reasonable london restaurant and it cost £18 just for me. Fancy eggs on toast, a juice and a coffee.

Agree passedgo. Those threads make me feel bad too. I know I buy luxuries, but I am by no means a spendthrift. Food is getting more and more expensive - 2 years ago if I'd been spending over £100 a week I'd have considered myself loaded, but now it just buys a normal ish shop. When I say I buy luxuries, I mean things like ham and tuna for sandwiches, juice and fruit, and some booze. Nothing madly extravagant.

I honesty wouldn't consider someone spending £200 a week to be spending loads. I can see how it could be very easily done, especially if you don't use aldi or lidl and have several older children. It's crazy.

MIL you clearly have issues. The language you are using is utterly ridiculous.

How does someone deciding to spend £100 a week instead of £200 help someone on a low wage? It just means they have got £400 a month to spend on something else - no doubt you would disapprove of whatever that was too?

Cleaner? Exploitation
Clothes? Supporting sweatshops
Holidays? Extravagant/bad for the environment/exploiting local populations

Fruitsalad my problem is that I've been using Lidl for as long as they have existed. I have economised to the point of no return and it STILL sets me back £80 just for the basics - not nasty basics, just plain decent food.

I wonder if there is a historical record of actual food prices in shops (not government statistics). Cheap butter used to be 50p not long ago, now it's £1.25. We could all live off chicken wings, liver, pork belly and ERMince, but I don't think that should be the norm or an ideal to strive for.

I must say we always get organic milk and that sets us back an extra £1 a day but we are entitled to have a few principles surely?

I suppose I am one of those who MIL is calling greedy and obese (first time anyone has called size 4-6 me obese!). I am not buying a huge quantity of food, I just am very picky about what I do buy. I cannot in good conscience buy meat/fish/cheese from sources which cannot be traced and although it means paying more for the items, it is worth it for me to know that I am supporting small producers who are trying to survive in a world where their counterparts are being squeezed by large supermarket chains. I know that I am paying double for my steak, but I am supporting someone who has the guts to rear a rare breed in an ethical manner. I pay more for very fresh fish, and for artisanal cheeses, as well as organic fruit and veg. Naive- perhaps. Greedy, I don't think so.

crickey MIL, bit harsh.

I used to routinely spend £100 p/w in Sainsburys but switching to Aldi/Lidl/Iceland has reduced our weekly food budget massively.

I didn't include cleaning/toiletries in my 1st post because i tend to buy them in b&m/bodycare/boots - i find supermarket prices a bit steep.

sobs - The way DS is going and according to this thread, by the time he hits his teenage years I'm going to need a lock for the fridge or a lottery win!

I know, I'm the same, been using aldi for ages but my food bills are still rocketing. I won't eat crap though.
Inflation is a joke - the figures are so low because things like flat screen tvs etc are really cheap. Never mind that food must have gone up 10 -20% (if not more!) in the last couple of years. As long as we can get cheap electronics, it's all fine!!

Last week I spent £66 on shop this was with £15 off a first shop voucher code. I didn't get much house stuff as we were already stocked but did get breakfast bits (Pancakes / Bacon/ Frosted Wheets/ Pain au Chocolates) , new coffee tin, lunch for ds beans on toast or sausages and the following bits to make these meals:
Korma Curry w popadoms
Thai Curry w spring rolls
Chicken baked in oven with lemon and herbs & new potatoes
Satay chicken with rice & sweetcorn on the cob
Saussage, mushrooms, mash & beans
Southern Chicken & Chips with sweetcorn on the cob and green beans
Saussage Casserole & mash
Stir Fry with chicken, peppers, onions
Honey Mustard Chicken with mushrooms and green beans

I don't buy ready meals and no alcohol this week as I'm 38 weeks pregs x

There aren't may care staff who only get £200 per week either!

If someone is spending £200 on food a week that may be because they are buying sustainable fish, free range meat and organic veg. If they are buying any ready made meals they are likely to be of better quality. If people want to eat like that good for them. I feed 2 of us on £80 per week, I have a friend who is a retired chef who spends £200 on food and wine for himself and his very healthy and svelte wife - they eat well and enjoy their food.

Mominatrix - MILs comments also apply to me, w my approx £200 per week grocery bills. You don't need to justify yourself. Neither do I. We aren't obese, just for the record, but do eat well, including plenty of meat. I think that makes us fortunate, but I appreciate that to a Puritan it's positively sinful. Looking forward to MIL uploading a photo of her gaunt, glowering face.

I explained in my post why we spent so much and I do spend a lot of my time trying to retain someone's dignity, so I really think you are unfair to generalise mymil

£150 for 2 adults & 3 children. Packed lunches for 1 child 5 days a week. Not including top ups.

Oh and I have 2 dogs, 6 cats, 3 guinea pigs, 1 hamster to buy for as well. I do have a huge tropical fish tank but I buy their stuff separate.

I haven't read the whole thread.

However, I spend about £250 - £300 per week, mainly through Ocado, plus about £50-£70 top up at local shops and fish van, for family of 5 plus dogs and cats. DH probably spends a further £40 on lunches for himself and buying sandwiches/salads etc for DD's packed lunches. I know it sounds a lot and I try to buy things that are on offer and this is excluding spending on wine or other 'luxuries'. If I cut down for one week, it always seems to be more the next week.

I am genuinely in awe of people who seem to manage well on much smaller amounts. I do buy good quality ingredients, but I cook from scratch and often have cheaper mince based meals such as spag bol and chilli con carne, and DH loves lambs' kidneys. We usually have a good quality Sunday roast, but will use up the leftovers the next day.

I sometimes speculate how much it would cost to survive for a week and reach the conclusion that I could live cheaply for a week or two, but probably not for much longer.

I probably spend about £150 a week on 2 adults and 2 children. Prepare a packed lunch most days and always carry snack rather than buy things out. DH works from home twice a week and eats a proper lunch. We rarely eat or drink out, so this includes nice things we might like to cook at the weekend. We prefer to spend the money on cooking good food at home and drinking nice wine, rather than paying through the nose for it. If we are going on a long journey I always make sandwiches etc for the journey!

This also includes most toiletries (nappies at night for DS2), cleaning products, etc.

We are not obese - far, far from it! - and 50% of our meals are completely veggie. I also buy the "essentials" range for loads of our stuff. But I'm prepared to spend more on meat and fish, and some organic dairy.

Passedgo I have to confess that my 86p per meal does include snacks and cleaning products (couldn't be bothered to work out the sum without them!) but we don't have wine/juice in the house and no pets, so none of those are included. I'm not remotely proud or precious about that though - I would love to be able to spend more!

Our food shopping habits have dropped over the past five years from 90% Waitrose, mostly organic, to 95% Aldi, nothing organic, but free range meat still (at the expense of only eating meat around 2-3 times a week). In that time the DCs' appetites have obviously increased a bit, but food prices have had a far bigger impact on our food shopping choices than a toddler's intake. I reckon if I did a shop at our 'old' standards it would cost me in the region of £150-160 per week, minimum.

Just spent £43 in Aldi for me and 7 yo ds. This includes 2-3 packed lunches for him, lunches every day for me, and a bottle of wine. I average £35-£50 a week, depending on whether we need wash powder etc.